Label:
Deltasonic
Release Date:
23/09/2002

Hell, what else can be said about a band who’s debut release starts with lyrics straight out of a high street travel agents ("I wanna go to Reykjavik / I wanna see what it’s like / I wanna check out the buildings")? A band who’s frontman worships the Creedance Clearwater Revival?

Or, indeed, a band that doesn’t take itself too seriously? The Wandering Step have stumbled across a refreshing notion: the idea of a light hearted northern indie band. The tracks on this EP, ‘I Wanna Go To Reykjavik and ‘Shout And Shout Back’, are your basic 3 chord punk, but done with a rawness and humour that lifts it above it’s (mainly American) counterparts. There is energy in the music, genuine energy in the fuzzy, played-as-live production and a general warmth to the band’s sound. The EP is at times so rough that it’s like a bootleg of a band at your local pub, barely audible vocals, slightly repetitive verse-chorus-verse arrangement and all, but there’s a melody and sweetness that sets The Wandering Step just above the average pub wannabe.

Reykjavik is a mid paced, jaunty little number, full of peculiar yet endearing stops and starts, and a chorus made up of scuzzy licks of the lead guitar, destined to lift your mood and have you tapping your fingers, while Shout And Shout Back is more from the ‘fast and furious‘ school and is straight from 1977 – Buzzcocks style chord thrashing noise. But good noise. And as infectious as anything.